Making Health and Health Care Better for Everybody: A Progress Report2015-2017

www.academyhealth.org

Contents

Moving Evidence into Action: A Letter from Lisa 4

AcademyHealth’s Vision, Mission & Principles 5

Making Health Care Better 7

Delivering Better Care 7

Using Health Data 8

Paying for Care 10

Building Healthy Communities 11

Making Research Better 13

Advocacy 13

HSR Resources and Methods 14

HSR Workforce Development 15

Patient and Consumer Engagement 16

Research Ethics and Governance 16

Translation, Dissemination and Implementation 17

Maintaining the Necessary Resources to Support the Field and Realize our Vision 18

Financials

Making Health and Health Care Better for Everybody 19

As the leading professional society for health services and policy research, AcademyHealth works with our members to make both health care and research better.

From 2015-2017, I’m particularly proud of our work to improve health care in the following areas:

• Delivering better care by embedding highly qualified researchers inside the nations’ leading health care delivery systems (see page 7),

• Advancing the use of health data by publishing eGEMs, AcademyHealth’s open access, peer-reviewed journal focused on the innovative use of data and technology to transform health care (see page 8),

• Addressing issues around paying for care by exploring the challenges and barriers to linking the health care payment system to community-wide population health (see page 10), and

• Building healthy communities by empowering population health leaders through training to be even more effective in their efforts to transform the health of their communities (see page 11).

Over the past three years, we have worked to improve research through:

• Advocating for the field of health services research overall and in particular for the future of the lead agency for health services research, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (see page 13),

• Showcasing the newest research findings and providing cutting-edge resources and methods through events such as our Annual Research Meeting and our Health Policy Orientation (see page 14),

• Developing the workforce by assessing its skills and composition, and building programs that promote leadership and diversity and respond to other emerging needs (see page 15),

• Advancing patient and consumer engagement by supporting the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s efforts to disseminate and use critical findings to improve care (see page 16),

• Providing leadership on research ethics and governance through education on navigating complicated issues such HIPAA and data openness and transparency (see page 16), and

• Advancing translation, dissemination, and implementation through piloting innovative approaches to quickly, but rigorously identify and communicate evidence to improve decision-making (see page 17).

All of our work is made possible by a vibrant and diverse community of members, partners and funders. As you’ll see in the following pages, our community is growing and changing as fast as health care itself – making our field more exciting than ever.

If you’re reading this as a member or a supporter, thank you. We couldn’t do it without you!

If you’re not yet involved with AcademyHealth, we’d love to have you! Consider how you might get involved with our work by visiting academyhealth.org.

Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, M.P.H., FAAP

Moving Evidence into Action: A Letter from LisaWhen I reflect over the last three years, I’m amazed at what we’ve accomplished together to move evidence into action to achieve better health and health care for all.

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ACADEMYHEALTH’S VISION, MISSION & PRINCIPLES

VisionAcademyHealth envisions a future where individuals and communities are made healthier by the use of evidence in decision-making.

MissionTogether with its members, AcademyHealth works to improve health and the performance of the health system by supporting the production and use of evidence to inform policy and practice.

PrinciplesEvidence is important.We believe policies affecting health and the performance of the health system should be informed by the best and most relevant evidence. We will promote both the production and use of evidence from health services and policy research to improve health, health care, and public health.

Evidence is a common good.We maintain that the production of evidence about what works to improve health and the performance of the health system, for whom, under what conditions, and with which outcomes, is a common good. We advocate for and support the develop-ment of the workforce, data and information infrastructure, and funding necessary to produce relevant, high quality, timely evidence.

Diversity of opinion and perspective produces better evidence.We believe that diverse perspectives lead to richer and more nuanced understanding of issues related to health and the performance of the health system. We support a big tent approach and encourage participation from all. Our activities are nonpartisan and seek to encourage and support diversity in the field.

AcademyHealth is ‘of the field and for the field.’We strive to develop high quality programs and services that address the needs and concerns of our field and members, as well as anticipate, respond to, and raise awareness of a changing environment for health and the performance of the health system. The richness of these activities is enhanced through the efforts of our member volunteers. We will recruit and retain highly trained and motivated staff who represent, reflect and promote the field.

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AcademyHealth is the professional home for about 4,000 members working across a variety of disciplines to produce and use evidence to improve health and the performance of the health system. Our commu-nity is the bedrock of our work and extends well beyond our individual membership to our more than 150 organizational affiliates, our nearly 20,000 followers on social media, the half million who visit our web-site annually, the 20,000 on our variety of mailing lists, and the 6,000 attendees at our conferences each year. Each follower, website visitor, member, and conference attendee helps make up the vibrant and diverse field of health services research. AcademyHealth is proud to serve as the gathering place for these talented people making strides every day to better understand and improve our health system.

AcademyHealth hosts a variety of Interest Groups among our membership that facilitate interaction of individuals around specific topic areas. Interest Group members exchange knowledge, disseminate research findings, in-form policy and clinical decision-making, build research skills, and network with those sharing common interests.

We are also proud to support a growing number of student chapters to en-hance the learning and professional development experience for students in health services and policy research. AcademyHealth also benefits from the involvement of students as they bring a unique perspective on the nation’s emerging and critical health policy issues and priorities.

Whether students, early career professionals, or seasoned leaders, our field has always been multidisciplinary, drawing members from diverse educa-tional, regional, and employment backgrounds. As the health care system and its workforce have evolved, health services research has grown to attract additional disciplines such as engineering, data and system science, demography, and others to tackle challenges as diverse as patient safety and social determinants of health. All of us work on examining what works, for whom, at what cost, and under what circumstances.

eGEMs, Health Affairs, Health Services Research (HSR), and the Milbank Quarterly, AcademyHealth’s official journals, reflect some of the most outstanding health policy and health services research through thousands of published, peer-reviewed articles each year. Work from AcademyHealth members makes up a significant portion of this research, including features on the best of our Annual Research Meeting in HSR, and other member work in both Health Affairs and Milbank Quarterly.

AcademyHealth’s staff, members, and partners produce and use all this evidence to make health care and research better. Read on to find out how we have worked to move evidence into action from 2015-2017.

A VIBRANT COMMUNITY GENERATING NEW KNOWLEDGE

University-based research/ policy center

Associations

Other Research/Policy Center

Foundations

Consulting Firms

State and Federal Government

Health Provider

Corporations

Health Plan

Robin Weinick, Ph.D. | Vice President - Division for Research on Healthcare Value, Equity, and the Lifespan at RTI International

AcademyHealth has been very encouraging of increased engagement by researchers on the “industry” side, which has been

great. Staying connected as a member of AcademyHealth helps me maintain ties to the academic community and to colleagues who work in diverse settings.”

DIVERSE, EXPERT MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

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Membership Story

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MAKING HEALTH CARE BETTER

DELIVERING BETTER CARE

Robin Weinick, Ph.D. | Vice President - Division for Research on Healthcare Value, Equity, and the Lifespan at RTI International

Rachel Hardeman, Ph.D., M.P.H. | Assistant Professor - University of Minnesota, School of Public Health

My professional career was shaped by my involvement in AcademyHealth. Doors were opened to service opportunities that have since then matured into leadership

roles in the field. I have always felt that I have a lot to contribute to this organization and vice versa.”

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We work with leading delivery systems to place highly qualified researchers right where the need is greatest. Our Delivery System Science Fellowship, launched in 2012, connects talented health services researchers with the nation’s leading delivery systems, helping them to better generate and use evidence to improve care. Fellows work on issues from clinical process implementation evaluation to the collection of social risk factors within medical records.

Spotlight on Intermountain Healthcare: Intermountain Healthcare, an AcademyHealth organizational affiliate and Delivery System Science Fellowship Host Site since 2012, is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, a Medical Group with more than 1,600 physicians and advanced practice clinicians at about 180 clinics, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in clinical quality improvement and in efficient healthcare delivery.

AcademyHealth also engages key stakeholders working to deliver better care. As one example, AcademyHealth and the ABIM Foundation created the Research Community on Low-Value Care. Building on convenings in 2014 and 2015 of clinicians, patients, researchers, health systems, purchasers and policy makers, the Research Community

now boasts more than 300 members working to tackle shared challenges in low-value care research.

In another example of shared learning to improve care delivery, the Medicaid Medical Directors Network, managed by AcademyHealth, has taken on issues as varied as antipsychotic medication use in children, state hospital readmission rates, and perinatal quality improvement efforts. The newest project, funded by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, focuses on improving vaccination rates of low-income children and pregnant women.

Efforts to make health care better begin by identifying needs. AcademyHealth listens to those on the front lines and leads efforts to address challenges in quality, access and organization of care across health systems.

Membership Story

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USING HEALTH DATA

Spotlight on The National Pharmaceutical Council: The National Pharmaceutical Council, an AcademyHealth or-ganizational affiliate, member of the AcademyHealth Corporate Council and Concordium sponsor, is a health policy research organization dedicated to the advancement of good evidence and science, and to fostering an environment in the United States that supports medical innovation. Founded in 1953 and supported by the nation’s major research-based pharma-ceutical companies, NPC focuses on research development, information dissemination and education on the critical issues of evidence, innovation and the value of medicines for patients.

AcademyHealth’s open access journal eGEMs, relaunched on a new platform in May 2017, is the home for peer-reviewed research utilizing electronic health data and methods. With hundreds of published articles, the journal fills a unique void – helping readers understand how we learn from health data with a focus on the nuts-and-bolts of health data analysis and digging into the real world les-sons gleaned by those using these tools to improve health and health care. For example, the journal released a 2017 special issue – guest edited by Lucy Savitz – high-lighting lessons learned from the High Value Healthcare Collaborative (HVHC), featuring insights from a two-year multi-site project to improve sepsis care with practical rec-ommendations on strategies to align and clean data from multiple institutions to conduct meaningful analytics.

Beyond peer-reviewed articles, AcademyHealth partners with those on the ground working to leverage data for better health. With funding from the Office of the National Coordinator, AcademyHealth’s Community Health Peer Learning Program engaged 15 communities to link criti-

cal information from within and outside of health care to address challenges ranging from pediatric asthma to at risk individuals facing housing insecurity. Through outputs like an environmental scan and a series of learning guides, the program helped inform national strategy and aligned with other delivery system reform efforts driving toward better care and healthier people.

We also bring people together face-to-face to address shared challenges in the health data field. A new na-tional meeting launched in 2015, Concordium provides a unique setting for people across diverse sectors to gather and learn from each other how data and knowledge can transform health care. In its first two years, sessions brought together policymakers, clinicians, patients and informaticians using electronic medical records, registries, and m-health tools in innovative ways to improve care and outcomes, and grapple with challenges and solutions to issues like patient privacy and data security. Concordium 2017 was invitational, allowing more intimate break out discussion groups on priority topics.

Another important aspect of using health data, are patient registries. These treasure troves of information offer significant opportunities for conducting clinical research. In partnership with AHRQ, L&M Policy Research, and Truven Health Analytics, AcademyHealth facilitates implementation of the Registry of Patient Registries, which is a database of existing patient registries that was designed with extensive stakeholder participation to promote collaboration, reduce redundancy, and improve transparency in registry-based research. Our particular focus is developing a virtual Community of Practice to facilitate discussion of relevant issues related to registry design and use of registry data among diverse stakeholders.

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The explosion of health-related data has revealed new opportunities to make health care better and AcademyHealth works proactively alongside members and partners to make the most of these new opportunities through publishing new research, engaging communities on the front lines, and bringing together those harnessing the power of data and technology to transform health care.

Health Datapalooza is AcademyHealth’s newest major convening – an event that recognizes the rapidly chang-ing environment for health services research and the increasing need to expand our capacity to work with new and emerging data and to expand our network of partners and disciplines.

The Health Datapalooza began eight years ago in a conference room at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and quickly drew a broad community of committed stakeholders representing the full spectrum of health data innovators – patients, clinicians, health care payers and provider systems, hackers, data journalists and junkies, incubators, startups, and researchers. The event is known for its commitment to public-private engagement, new data releases, innovation challenges, a strong interna-tional component, and, perhaps most importantly, its deep commitment to patient participation.

AcademyHealth acquired the Health Datapalooza in late 2015, and the first event under our brand (April 2016) took on a new relevance by focusing on the core goals of creating value and engaging data users – including researchers – to drive change and opportunity. The 2016 event also marked the first time non-governmental data sources were featured in a competition, and featured Vice President Biden as a keynote speaker.

The 2017 Health Datapalooza built on this history, and in a year of transition, gave the community unmatched in-sight into the direction the new Administration would take with regard to health data. Ultimately, the participation of the HHS Secretary, as well as additional marquee speak-ers from other federal agencies, the patient advocacy community, private industry, and others, sent a strong positive message about the importance of health data innovation in the years to come.

Of note, both the 2016 and 2017 events were recognized as Patients Included conferences – which required patient engagement in the planning committee, patient speakers on the main and breakout stages, and free participation and travel support for patient speakers.

HEALTH DATAPALOOZA

"Beyond the sessions, the hallway and networking event conversations are where the conference content comes home to roost, as you speak with other passionate people about how they’d use what they learned, in the real world."

– Mandi BishopChief Evangelist and Co-Founder

Aloha Health, Inc.

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Spotlight on PWC: PwC’s Public Sector Health & Benefits practice, a Datapalooza platinum sponsor, helps government health agencies adopt leading practices in care, population health management, research and regulatory science, bridging gaps between the public and private sectors for a stronger global and national health ecosystem.

Despite an overall push toward value-based care, payment and financing models in the United States remain largely tied to clinical services and have not incorporated services linked to the social determinants of health. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), AcademyHealth leads the Payment Reform for Population Health initiative to identify and showcase where and how progress can be made.

AcademyHealth convened diverse stakeholders, studied bright spots across the country and identified four major elements that influence collaboration and support financing aimed at population health improvements. In partnership with the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative and with support from the Children’s Hospital Association, AcademyHealth is tackling specific payment model issues in addressing social and emotional determinants of health for children and adolescents.

On the consumer side, AcademyHealth managed 11 research studies funded by RWJF in 2015 to generate evidence on what consumers value in different care delivery settings, when they are buying and using insurance, and when they are shopping for health care. As the grants wrapped up in 2017, two grantees have found unique insights into how patients perceive and value physician

and hospital quality. One study provides findings on the importance of both interpersonal and clinical qualities of doctors and hospitals and what factors affect consumers’ ranking of each. Another study looked at when and how much quality scores mattered to patients. These themes illustrate the complex connection between cost, quality and value.

PAYING FOR CARE

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Health care costs are a significant area of concern for everyone from patients to policymakers. AcademyHealth works with our members to address cost growth, encourage efficiency and quality for care provided via insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid so that people receive the best care at the best value.

“Engaging with AcademyHealth helped me take my research beyond the conference convention hall by putting me directly in front of policymakers.

It has helped me to understand the importance of not only producing the research, but the responsibility of doing it in a way that has an impact on policy.”

Nathan Hale, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor - East Tennessee State University

“Membership Story

AcademyHealth partnered with RWJF in support of its effort to create a Culture of Health in the U.S. where all individuals, organizations, communities, and sectors value health as a shared goal and work together to improve well-being. The result is the Sharing Knowledge to Build a Culture of Health conference, first convened in 2016 with AcademyHealth’s help and continued in 2017 and 2018. The meeting brings together researchers, practi-tioners, and policymakers representing multiple sectors and diverse viewpoints to discuss the critical assessment, challenges, and innovative thinking required to build a culture of health.

AcademyHealth also works with leaders on the frontlines. With funding from the Kresge Foundation, AcademyHealth’s Population Health Scholarship Program brought emerging

community health leaders to Washington, D.C. for a policy boot camp, including participation in our National Health Policy Conference and learning sessions with policymakers and community health stakeholders, followed by virtual engagement activities.

“My experience as an AcademyHealth Pop-ulation Health Scholar taught me the value of building relationships in the communi-ties and moving people to invovlement and engagement. Our program relies on building

effective partnerships within the community and in schools, and my experience reinforced that concept.”

Genevive C. Falcon, M.D. | Pediatric Section Head at the Cleveland Clinic Brunswick Family Health Center, and 2015 Population Health Scholarship Recipient

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BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIESHealth is about so much more than health care. AcademyHealth works together with our partners to examine how where we live, work, and play affects our health.

TRANSITIONING LONGSTANDING PROGRAMS FOR A NEW CHALLENGEIn 2016, two AcademyHealth-administered national programs of RWJF ended. The Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) and the State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) programs were an important part of AcademyHealth’s history and were among our earliest major efforts to support actionable evidence. The end of those programs was the beginning of an important new chapter.

For nearly 30 years, the HCFO program supported investigator-initiated research projects providing public and private decision makers with usable and timely information on health care policy, financing, and market developments. It bridged the health policy and health services research communities through high level, intimate convenings, issues identification, research translation, and communication activities.

From 1991 to 2016, the SCI program provided timely assistance to state leaders in order to help them move health care reform forward at the state level. SCI offered an integrated array of policy and technical assistance services and products to help state leaders with coverage expansion efforts as well as with broader health care reform. The program built and supported a community of state officials to learn from each other, share best practices, test new initiatives and encourage action. The team also offered both unbiased evidence to support decision-making and policy and technical assistance to improve state policymakers’ ability to make informed policy decisions.

Over the years, HCFO funded 356 policy-relevant studies across a wide variety of topics, and produced hundreds of useful publications documenting policy insights. SCI produced more than 120 publications, managed 16 grants in 13 states, organized two topic-specific institutes engaging dozens of additional states, and held countless meetings with thousands of policy makers.

Although the programs have ended, AcademyHeath continues to apply the lessons we learned through HCFO and SCI to help researchers produce rigorous and relevant evidence and more effectively translate and disseminate that work.

For example, in 2017, AcademyHealth adapted the rigorous, transparent HCFO grantmaking process to new, special topic solicitations, and we currently manage a number of these special topic research programs for RWJF.

AcademyHealth’s team of state health policy experts similarly applied the lessons learned from the SCI program to build new learning communities to improve health and health care decision-making. The team launched and leads the State-University Partnership Learning Network (SUPLN), an ongoing collaboration that facilitates peer-to-peer learning and dialogue and has grown to include 27 partnerships in 23 states. The SUPLN pursues these aims through various ways including hosting meetings and bi-monthly web conferences.

In each of these, the ability to identify promising research, build a community of trust and collaboration, convene experts and translate evidence into action builds on previous efforts to drive improvements in health and the performance of the health system.

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Much of our advocacy over the past three years has focused on the future of AHRQ, the lead agency for health services research, including the highly visible #SaveAHRQ campaigns, through which we pushed back against various proposed cuts to AHRQ’s budget. Additionally, we educated stakeholders about AHRQ’s work, through more than 150 Hill visits and Administration meetings, and the launch of our From Discov-ery to Delivery congressional briefing series. Moderated by AcademyHealth President and CEO Dr. Lisa Simpson, these briefings, held in partnership with peer organizations like Research!America, effectively illustrate how federally-funded research helps improve outcomes for specific conditions like heart disease, cancer, and asthma. For each, we engaged a member working in the area of focus to represent the health services research perspective.

Beyond AHRQ, advocacy accomplishments include the launch of the Friends of NIMHD (National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities) to further support research on health disparities and efforts to diversity our field. We transitioned the coordination of the Friends of NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics) to the Popula-tion Association of America after years of management by AcademyHealth. We also stepped up our engagement in executive branch activity and responded to more than 30 federal comment opportunities. These included provid-ing input on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s proposed new and revised methodology standards in 2016 as well as 2017 comments on future directions for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Ser-vices Innovation Center (CMMI).

MAKING RESEARCH BETTER

ADVOCACY

Spotlight on Research!AmericaResearch!America, an AcademyHealth organizational affiliate, is the nation’s largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance committed to making research to improve health a higher national priority. Mary Woolley, President and CEO of Research!America, received the AcademyHealth Chair Award in 2016 for her strong support of health services research.

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AcademyHealth’s advocacy work is core to our mission. On behalf of our members, we monitor and respond to opportunities and threats in Washington that affect the long-term sustainability of our field and work to educate relevant parties about the contributions and value of health services research.

For more than 30 years, AcademyHealth’s meetings have been the place where the field comes to learn. Our flagship meeting, the Annual Research Meeting, is held each summer and is the premier forum for health services research. Regularly attracting more than 2,500 attend-ees, over 150 sessions focus on the health policy and health system implications of research findings, research methods, and provide opportunities to network with col-leagues from around the world. As just one example, the 2016 meeting featured experts such as Helen Burstin of the National Quality Forum, and Donald Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, who discussed the 50th anniversary of the Donabedian Model.

Rigorous and timely research generates the evidence needed to optimize health and health care in the United States and elsewhere. However, the full potential of evidence can only be realized if it is effectively incorpo-rated into health practice and policy. The Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health (D&I), which we co-host with the National Insti-tutes of Health, draws over 1,000 attendees to focus in on the subset of health services research that helps us understand how to get evidence into practice and policy.

AcademyHealth also offers a comprehensive seminar on all aspects of health policy through our annual Health Policy Orientation. Attendees explore the many mechanisms of the policy process, including its key players (from relevant congressional staff to the three branches of government and federal agencies), an overview of the federal budget process, and insights into state health policy, public opinion, and more. The program includes presentations by well-known experts, interactive panels and group discussions, and hands-on

tutorials. Sessions are intentionally small – registration is limited to 50 participants – and designed to encourage collaboration, interaction, and networking among participants and esteemed faculty.

As AcademyHealth continually strives to meet the chang-ing needs of our members, the broader field of health services research, and the stakeholder community that we serve, we are guided by AcademyHealth’s Methods and Data, Education, and Corporate Councils. Nominated by AcademyHealth members, each Council’s role is to advise the AcademyHealth Board of Directors and Academy-Health staff on the needs of our members and stakehold-ers as well as important trends and opportunities in the field of health services research.

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Key to our mission, AcademyHealth provides information on the latest evidence data and tools for conducting and using HSR, making optimal use of existing methods and evaluating and using new methods for research. We do this through hosted meetings, trainings, and by drawing on our expert councils.

HSR RESOURCES AND METHODS

Over the years, AcademyHealth conferences and membership have enabled me to build my professional network, stay connected with

colleagues, broaden my interests, and learn what’s new in the field. AcademyHealth has much to offer you as a member, and even more when you get involved as a steward as others have before you.”Matt Maciejewski, Ph.D. | Professor and Research Career Scientist - Duke University Medical Center, Durham HSR&D Center for Innovation, and member of AcademyHealth’s Methods and Data Council

“Membership Story

Funded by RWJF, AcademyHealth supports three national change leadership programs though policy and communications training to help these leaders become more effective at moving evidence into action. Designed to extend the influence and impact of leaders working to build a Culture of Health, the initiative includes Clinical Scholars, Health Policy Research Scholars, and Interdisciplinary Research Leaders.

AcademyHealth also takes an active role in trying to better understand the current health services research workforce and plan for its future in the context of our changing health care and research ecosystems. In 2016, AcademyHealth partnered with AHRQ, RWJF, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to host the Health Services Research Workforce Summit. Meeting participants assessed the current workforce, identified future demand for research and created an

action plan for the education of health services research-ers, including recommendations for life-long learning. The commissioned papers and summary will appear in HSR in 2018.

AcademyHealth is committed to promoting racial and ethnic diversity among our members and the field at large. AcademyHealth’s Center for Diversity, Inclu-sion, and Minority Engagement (DIME) houses analytic and programmatic activities that further understanding, awareness, and promotion of diversity in health services research. In addition to hosting networking and mentor-ing events as well as a webinar series, the DIME also released a report in 2015 highlighting recommendations from an expert panel that encouraged AcademyHealth to provide national leadership for workforce diversity and inclusion in the field of HSR.

Spotlight on Nir Menachemi: Nir Menachemi, Ph.D., M.P.H., AcademyHealth’s Education Council Chair and leader of the HSR Workforce Conference task force, is professor and department chair of Health Policy and Management at the Indiana University (IU) Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. He is a Scientist with the Regenstrief Institute and holds an appointment in the IU Kelley School of Business. Dr. Menachemi teaches graduate level courses in strategic management, health information technology, and revenue and delivery models in health care. He has published over 200 scientific papers on topics that include health information technologies, healthcare quality issues, and the impact of policies on organizational and population health outcomes.

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One way AcademyHealth works to improve both the supply and quality of health services research is by assessing the skills and composition of the HSR workforce, and building programs that respond to emerging needs.

HSR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Since 2016, AcademyHealth has worked with the California Health Care Foundation to assist digital health market entrants understand their responsibilities under and effectively navigate the Privacy and Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as well as other federal and California privacy and security laws. In early 2017, AcademyHealth worked with partners to organize the Health Data Innovator Privacy and Security Workshop, which provided use cases, guidance, and practical takeaways on navigating HIPAA.

Governance is also a significant focus in AcademyHealth’s open access, peer-reviewed journal eGEMs. The journal published a special issue on the subject in 2016. Data Governance to Sup-port Health and Discovery focuses on three major themes—that data governance is growing in importance and presenting new challenges that must be addressed, that health care organizations must prioritize governance design, implementation, and functions as a priority, and that governance seems to be naturally converging on an archetype as described by this set of papers.

In support of data openness and transparency, AcademyHealth recognizes extraordinary contributions and leadership in the liberation of health data through the Health Data Liberator Award presented each year at Health Datapalooza. The award recognizes those working to accelerate the pace and multiply the volume of data available to innovators in order to foster the creation of products and services to improve health and health care.

AcademyHealth has also kept close watch on proposed changes to federal regulations to ensure health services research is accounted for in federal policy. In 2017 alone, AcademyHealth submitted several comments to federal policymakers on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects and the NPRM on the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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Patient and consumer engagement in health and health care is increasingly seen as vital to the research process, and to improv-ing the performance of the health care system. Since 2012, AcademyHealth has worked with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) on a variety of initiatives.

AcademyHealth supports PCORI’s Evaluation and Analysis team by analyzing its portfolio of funded research. These portfolio analyses are used to generate timely, accessible, and actionable information in response to internal and external stakeholder requests. AcademyHealth also supports PCORI’s Research Portfolio Development team by contextualizing PCORI’s funded research portfolios through the characterization and clustering of funded projects that investigate particular clinical and health care areas. This work has informed the dissemination and use of findings to identify future areas of study for specific disease areas and types of interventions.

AcademyHealth also leads the Consumer Patient Researcher Roundtable (CPR), which fosters collaborations among consumers, patients, researchers and delivery systems leaders committed to joint action to improve the research infrastructure and advance the use of electronic health data for quality improvement and research. CPR participants engage in deliberative dialogue and collaborative efforts in areas of shared interest and priority, including data governance (e.g., access, privacy), research infrastructure and methods.

Most recently, AcademyHealth is partnering with NORC to support the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in maximizing the impact of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF) investments through the creation of a Resource Center for Data Infrastructure.

AcademyHealth is committed to supporting and fostering collaboration between consumers, patients, researchers and delivery systems leaders to improve the relevance and application of health services research.

PATIENT AND CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

RESEARCH ETHICS AND GOVERNANCEAcademyHealth provides leadership and information regarding issues of research ethics and governance. Most recently that work has involved issues around health data privacy and security in particular.

Former United States Chief Technology Officer Todd Park (left) presents health care data journalist and author Fred Trotter with the 2016 Health Data Liberator Award. Trotter was recognized for his work in releasing multiple data sets to help researchers, journal-ists, and companies provide data-backed health care solutions.

Perhaps one of the most noticeable ways we have worked to improve translation and dissemination was through the redesign of the AcademyHealth website, which launched in the fall of 2016, to better showcase the findings from our field.

AcademyHealth’s Translation and Dissemination Institute serves as an incubator for new and innova-tive approaches to moving knowledge into action. The Institute’s Rapid Evidence Reviews Project, which began in May 2015, pilots innovative approaches to quickly, but rigorously identify and communicate evidence to inform public and private decision-making. The team has con-ducted several reviews to help policy makers understand how a variety of public policies and factors influence

health from adverse childhood experiences to earned-income tax credits to the built environment.

Another way AcademyHealth advances translation and dissemination is through our National Health Policy Conference (NHPC), which puts policy insights and per-spectives from diverse sectors of health and health care decision-making into context with the latest evidence and examples from science and practice. In 2017, a new year, a new administration, and a new congress present-ed several questions about the future of health care in the United States. As one of the year’s first conferences focused solely on health care and policy, NHPC 2017 welcomed three members of the United States Congress and over 700 attendees.

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TRANSLATION, DISSEMINATION AND IMPLEMENTATIONEvidence around translation, dissemination, and implementation helps the field of health services research move its findings more effectively into policy and practice. AcademyHealth supports the creation of evidence and programs that help research producers better understand the needs of research users, helps place research in context, and tests new and innovative approaches to moving knowledge into action.

Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine

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AcademyHealth’s activities are supported by membership dues,

is critical to achieving our mission.

MAINTAINING THE NECESSARY RESOURCES TO SUPPORT THE FIELD AND REALIZE OUR VISION

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Foundation Grants $5,006,455

Federal Grants and Contracts $3,068,620

Meeting Registration, Fees & Sponsors $3,023,283

Investment and Other $178,725

Membership $622,398

Advocacy $327,280

2017

Total 2017 Revenue: $12.2 Million

MAKING HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE BETTER FOR EVERYBODY

From 2015-2017, AcademyHealth worked with its members to make health care better by determining how to deliver better care, use health data more effectively, address health care costs, and build healthy communities. We’ve also worked to make research better through advocacy, the provision of cutting edge resources and methods, workforce development, patient and consumer engagement, leadership on research ethics and governance, and activities related to translation, dissemination and implementa-tion. We look forward to many more years of improving health and the performance of the health systems through the production and use of evidence to inform policy and practice.

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